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Thinking outside the " corner"

With FA looming, there has been a lot of chatter on what the Steeler's top priority should be. The most common is to say good bye to Mendy and to Wallace and keep Wallace's long time friend Lewis.

I agree with moving on from Mendy and Wallace and keeping Lewis, if his price is just right. THAT WOULD BE A VERY, VERY SOLID GROUP OF DBS, (Ike, Lewis, Cortez, and Gay; however, is it going to be economically feasible this year and again next year having to sign Cortez, who is starting to shine.

But with the recent signing signing of Gay has me thinking a little bit differently about our DB situation. First and foremost, Ike is staying at least this year, since he is our best corner and there is no cap savings if really if we cut him this year. Also he probably has a few more years in him of playing good football. So that leads us to who is #2...

The biggest question is, " who has the most upside-side, play-making ability between Cortez and Lewis?" I think it is Cortez, and he is still raw, while I see Lewis as being just solid. Now if Lewis gets paid, are we going to be able to keep Cortez next year, and who I think will eventually become a bigger play maker.

And as we all seen last year, there were absolutely no game changing plays on the d side, one of our biggest weaknesses last year, so we desperatly need those game changing players.

So here is my thinking, instead of kicking up big bucks for Lewis, and risk the chance of loosing Cortez next year. Sign Cortez this year (which should be like Brown vs Wallace) and use that excess that money on another FA ....OL,LB, RB, WR. Would you be willing to pay Stephen Jackson or Reggie Bush? Or what about Brandon Albert?

And for this year at DB we have IKE, Cortez, ( rookie at #17), Gay, Brown

I am not saying it is going to happen, or want it to happen just thinking outside the "corner"

With FA looming, there has been a lot of chatter on what the Steeler's top priority should be. The most common is to say good bye to Mendy and to Wallace and keep Wallace's long time friend Lewis.

I agree with moving on from Mendy and Wallace and keeping Lewis, if his price is just right. THAT WOULD BE A VERY, VERY SOLID GROUP OF DBS, (Ike, Lewis, Cortez, and Gay; however, is it going to be economically feasible this year and again next year having to sign Cortez, who is starting to shine.

But with the recent signing signing of Gay has me thinking a little bit differently about our DB situation. First and foremost, Ike is staying at least this year, since he is our best corner and there is no cap savings if really if we cut him this year. Also he probably has a few more years in him of playing good football. So that leads us to who is #2...

The biggest question is, " who has the most upside-side, play-making ability between Cortez and Lewis?" I think it is Cortez, and he is still raw, while I see Lewis as being just solid. Now if Lewis gets paid, are we going to be able to keep Cortez next year, and who I think will eventually become a bigger play maker.

And as we all seen last year, there were absolutely no game changing plays on the d side, one of our biggest weaknesses last year, so we desperately need those game changing players.

So here is my thinking, instead of kicking up big bucks for Lewis, and risk the chance of loosing Cortez next year. Sign Cortez this year (which should be like Brown vs Wallace) and use that excess that money on another FA ....OL,LB, RB, WR. Would you be willing to pay Stephen Jackson or Reggie Bush? Or what about Brandon Albert?

And for this year at DB we have IKE, Cortez, ( rookie at #17), Gay, Brown

I am not saying it is going to happen, or want it to happen just thinking outside the "corner"

I would sign Lewis and I would sign Cortez when the time comes essentially locking up our #1 and #2 for several years to come. Ike is making huge money and is on the downside of his career. You don't make significant time investments into developing some of your best young players (lewis, and allen) and let some other team reep the benefits. These two are progressing getting better. I can't say the same for Wallace or Mendenhall which is why I think they'll leave. The salary cap is supposed to jump next year and we have several expensive players that only have a few years left (Troy, Harrison, Ike, Hampton, Colon). Some players will be back this year but others are nearing the end quickly which will free up significant cap room. Other players that will free up cap room in the coming years are Foote, Keisel and Clark. I think we should have the money to sign both Allen and Lewis.

You are officially the first person Chadman has seen say that. All reports so far is that the Salary Cap isn't going to go up as many had expected, and that the Cap level will be raised gradually to stop salaries inflating too quickly.

With FA looming, there has been a lot of chatter on what the Steeler's top priority should be. The most common is to say good bye to Mendy and to Wallace and keep Wallace's long time friend Lewis.

I agree with moving on from Mendy and Wallace and keeping Lewis, if his price is just right. THAT WOULD BE A VERY, VERY SOLID GROUP OF DBS, (Ike, Lewis, Cortez, and Gay; however, is it going to be economically feasible this year and again next year having to sign Cortez, who is starting to shine.

But with the recent signing signing of Gay has me thinking a little bit differently about our DB situation. First and foremost, Ike is staying at least this year, since he is our best corner and there is no cap savings if really if we cut him this year. Also he probably has a few more years in him of playing good football. So that leads us to who is #2...

The biggest question is, " who has the most upside-side, play-making ability between Cortez and Lewis?" I think it is Cortez, and he is still raw, while I see Lewis as being just solid. Now if Lewis gets paid, are we going to be able to keep Cortez next year, and who I think will eventually become a bigger play maker.

And as we all seen last year, there were absolutely no game changing plays on the d side, one of our biggest weaknesses last year, so we desperatly need those game changing players.

So here is my thinking, instead of kicking up big bucks for Lewis, and risk the chance of loosing Cortez next year. Sign Cortez this year (which should be like Brown vs Wallace) and use that excess that money on another FA ....OL,LB, RB, WR. Would you be willing to pay Stephen Jackson or Reggie Bush? Or what about Brandon Albert?

And for this year at DB we have IKE, Cortez, ( rookie at #17), Gay, Brown

I am not saying it is going to happen, or want it to happen just thinking outside the "corner"

For the record- Chadman finds no issue with anything you said here. CB is a sneaky #1 option that not many have contemplated. Lewis might not actually present good 'value' at this point, in the same way as how Flacco is not worth the money he was signed for, but the market dictated his value.

We are still talking about a 27 year old CB with 1 year's starting experience, and 1 INT to his name.

Keenan's the best CB we have right now. Cortez will surpass him. Ike is still the most athletic corner in the league and best tackling DB there is.

Unlike Cortez and Keenan, Ike can't play the ball to save his life. If he could, he'd be the best CB in the game.

Then why do they have Ike covering the other team's #1, while lining up Lewis against the next guy? If Lewis is our best corner then you'd think that he would routinely cover the other team's best receiver.